Michael Sean Winters

Distinctly Catholic: Francis has made dialogue a leitmotif of his papacy, and so it should not surprise anyone that he is also committed to dialogue in regards to both healing the divisions within the Chinese Church and proclaiming the Gospel in that country.

Distinctly Catholic: Underneath the tiring and tiresome drama of government as entertainment, the administration's decisions are undermining the common good.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Accountable Capitalism Act; unions organizing for the common good; rich folks' legal and illegal ways to game the system.

Distinctly Catholic: Since the cardinals elected him as pope in March 2013, Francis has retrieved a sense of synodality that had been obscured, though never eliminated from the church.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: President Donald Trump bashes Ann Coulter; survey on identity politics; Amazon's sweetheart deal with New York City; what to look for in the Mueller report.

Distinctly Catholic: When Rep. Ilhan Omar made a comment suggesting that American Jews exhibit a "dual loyalty," she was not debating policy, she was trafficking in an anti-Semitic trope with a long history.  

Distinctly Catholic: Michael Cohen's testimony and the House Judiciary Committee's actions focus the nation on the difficult-to-avoid conclusion that President Trump is a crook. So what is to be done?

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Good ideas for public housing; what Watergate tells us to expect today; Hispanic Republicans; Netanyahu indicted.

He's got the money and, for now, he is Democratic frontrunner, but will the opinionated feistiness that made Bernie Sanders seem authentic last time still appeal in this next go-round?

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Liberal Dems' litmus tests will cost them; Rep. Ilhan Omar should be removed from committee; Getting to the cool table in Congress

Distinctly Catholic: John O'Malley's book offers a comprehensive treatment of the events and personalities that would lead to the definition of papal infallibility.

Distinctly Catholic: Jesuit Fr. John O'Malley's book Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church shows how the church we know is still very much shaped by the First Vatican Council. 

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Medicare for all has downsides that need consideration; Sen. Elizabeth Warren says no to ritzy fundraisers; Democrats' demographics are shifting

Distinctly Catholic: Checking out how conservative U.S. Catholics reacted to the Vatican sex abuse summit would be funny if it were not so pitiful. Their commentary betrays their biases.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: French bishops stand against anti-Semitism; changing Catholic geography; the pitfalls of challenging an incumbent.

Distinctly Catholic: It was easy to forget that the fact of the meeting itself was a significant step forward. It was unprecedented to gather the presidents of the world's episcopal conferences together on relatively short notice to address a specific problem. 

Distinctly Catholic: Martel sees gay influence everywhere — art, voices, business relationships. Full of wrong facts, his book of stereotypes would be denounced as sheer bigotry if they came from a straight man.

Distinctly Catholic: I do not know how well Klobuchar will fare. In 2016, voters had a choice of a candidate who had exemplary experience and yet didn't make it.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: There's only one way to reform clericalism; anti-Semitism threatens democratic party; Evangelicals need a history lesson; the American people are more economically progressive than liberal elites

Distinctly Catholic: The Holy See's decision to laicize Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal, only partially closes a sad and ugly chapter in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.